Pirates-Rangers Preview By BRETT HUSTON STATS Senior Editor
When Yu Darvish last pitched in a major league game, the Texas Rangers were already in the dregs of a lost season that would see them finish with the AL's worst record. The club's in considerably better shape upon his much-anticipated return. Nearly 22 months after last stepping on the mound, Darvish gets back to business after recovering from Tommy John surgery Saturday night against the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates. Darvish last pitched in the majors on Aug. 9, 2014, with the Rangers sitting at 45-70, landing on the 60-day disabled list four days later with right elbow inflammation that would require elbow surgery the following spring after more issues arose. That wiped out 2015 and nearly the first eight weeks of this season, but the right-hander is ready to go after five stellar rehab starts. In those outings, split between Triple-A Round Rock and Double-A Frisco, Darvish had a 0.90 ERA with 21 strikeouts and six walks in 20 innings. ''All the reports we got were glowing. The fastball, how he used the fastball, secondary stuff was sharp,'' manager Jeff Banister said Monday. Darvish threw 87 pitches in his final outing and that's about what they'll limit him to Saturday. "That would be a good pitch count," pitching coach Doug Brocail told MLB's official website. "It all depends on how he looks during the game and how many pitches he has. We're not going to have him go out there and throw 150 pitches. Hopefully he gets out there and uses his fastball to get early outs and uses his pitches wisely and keeps us in the game." Darvish has faced the Pirates (28-19) once, holding them to a run over seven innings in a 1-0 loss Sept. 9, 2013. When Darvish last pitched in a Rangers uniform, Texas (27-21) had the AL's worst rotation ERA (5.02). Heading into Friday night's opener with the Pirates, it was the best (3.43), something not lost on starter Derek Holland. "We're going to be really good," Holland said. "There is no doubt we have the confidence. We believe it. He adds one more power arm to the rotation." Their best arm had a rare rough night in the opener. Pittsburgh hit Cole Hamels hard and knocked him out in the fifth, putting up six runs as Starling Marte and Jung Ho Kang took the left-hander deep en route to a 9-1 win. Andrew McCutchen and Gregory Polanco also homered in the Pirates' fifth straight victory while Texas lost for just the second time in seven games. ''If you pitch long enough, you're going to have games like this,'' Hamels said. ''You're going to have good games, bad games, a ton of games in between." Juan Nicasio gets the ball for the Pirates hoping his final start in May is a lot better than his first three. The right-hander had a 3.33 ERA and .198 opponents' batting average in his five April outings but has seen that nearly double to 6.46 while teams have hit .333 off him this month. Pittsburgh gave Nicasio seven first-inning runs May 17 in a 12-9 win, though Nicasio struggled by allowing five through five. His Sunday start against Colorado was postponed after one inning, and his rotation turn was skipped as the organization tries to limit the work of a pitcher who tossed only 58 1/3 innings last season, almost exclusively in relief. |